WORLD CIVILIZATION

Detailed explanation-1: -The ‘Library of Ashurbanipal ‘ is the name given to a collection of over 30, 000 clay tablets and fragments inscribed with cuneiform – a type of writing used in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq). Texts were written by pressing a reed pen into soft clay.

Detailed explanation-2: -The materials used in cuneiform-clay and reeds-were both readily available. Reeds were used as writing implements. The tip of a reed stylus was impressed into a wet clay surface to draw the strokes of the sign-thus acquiring a “wedge-shaped” appearance.

Detailed explanation-3: -His principal intellectual accomplishment was the creation in Nineveh of the first systematically organized library in the Middle East; the clay tablets collected there preserved omen texts, Mesopotamian epics, prayers and incantations, scientific texts, lexicographical texts, and folktales.

Detailed explanation-4: -Ashurbanipal’s intense interest in collecting divination texts was one of his driving motivations in collecting works for his library. His original motive may have been to “gain possession of rituals and incantations that were vital to maintain his royal power."

Detailed explanation-5: -This tablet preserves an account of wages paid to workers 4, 000 years ago. Developed in Ancient Mesopotamia, clay tablets were used for over 3, 000 years. Scribes used a reed stylus to impress characters in moist clay. The tablets were usually dried in the sun or sometimes fired in kilns.